Young Writers Society

This is mostly a private collaboration, and being so, you'll need approval to join and/or be acknowledged. So if you're interested in joining this storybook, please message either myself or ConformandObey_ItsFun. Give us an idea of what you plan to do, who your character(s) is/are, and how you want to come in.

If people decide to spam our storybook, we'll simply collect our things and leave. Not a loss to us. Just a waste of your time.

Without further ado, Borrowed Time...

Daryis lifted the curtain and quickly glanced towards the sun. He rolled his eyes.

What's taking him so long?, he thought to himself as he sighed.

He paced back and forth; each board beneath him creaked loudly. He didn't care if anyone was residing below him. If he had to stay up all night waiting, so would they.

He poured himself a glass of wine and took a large sip. He said he wasn't going to drink tonight, but he was stressed. That was enough reason for Daryis.

It had been hours since the time his brother had told him to expect him. And it was just like him to show up late. Daryis knew it was no accident. He was just proving that he didn't have to follow rules, or be limited in any way. That's exactly what he was doing, and Daryis knew it. His brother had always been that way.

Okay, kid, you've proven your point, Now, hurry up, he thought.


It had been at least another half an hour, and the sun was beginning set. His wine bottle was already running low. He sighed and flopped into the chair next to the window.

One more look, that's it.

As he pushed the curtain from in front of the window, he noticed a silhouette in the distance, and it was advancing toward the inn rather quickly.

It was him. He was sure of it.

The door knocker sounded and Daryis jumped up to answer it, but before he had reached the door, his visitor had already invited himself in.

"How'd you get access to this room?" Daryis asked.

"This is how you greet me after all these years?" Daryis dismissed the question. It was hardly a concern with the recent turning of events. "I'd like a drink, Daryis."

Daryis held the near-empty wine bottle up. "I'm afraid you're a little late."

Matisyn shook his head. "No matter. Sit. There is much we must discuss."
Daryis took a seat at the small table provided, offering Matisyn a seat as well, but he refused. "I'm sure you've heard word by now."

"I was one of the first to receive the news. I have several informants within the palace."

"Then you know it was one of our own."

Daryis couldn't help but swallow. "I've heard such."

Matisyn continued to pace the small room. "One thing is sure; Archadia will crown another. She must crown another or She shall be overtaken."

"It's quite soon to be thinking of such things."

"Did you not hear me? As soon as our neighbors hear word, they'll see every opportunity to take."

"Matisyn, there is a traitor among us. We cannot act without--" Daryis was lost for words and just hung his head in defeat.

"The Royal Counsel is letting little information slip through the seams. I smell conspiracy."

"I've never trusted the counsel. Obviously King Raminas didn't either, else there'd be no point to having us."

"They don't like us any more than we like them. They especially won't if they come to understand that one of our people was involved."

Daryis could not shake this. "Do you have proof that it was one of our own?"

Matisyn reached into the pocket on the inside of his coat and revealed a ring baring a phoenix signet. "Is this proof enough?"

Daryis sighed, "What should we do?"

"Well," Matisyn began calmly, "Of course we need to find this traitor, and dispose of him, but the question is how do we find him?"

"Well, it's not like he's going to say, 'Yes, that would be me,' once we ask," Daryis said sarcastically.

Matisyn rolled his eyes at his brother.

"Thank you for pointing that out, Daryis. I would be lost without you," he started, "Now, I suspect you know why I have requested meeting with you?"

"Of, course. It's been years since we've seen eachother. You want something, and you need my help to get it, of course." Daryis stated with a small hint of amusement.

Matisyn shot a glance at his brother before beginning again, "You know that no one is more capable of catching this infidel than either of us. I assume, that you and I teamed together, leaves this traitor with no chance."

Daryis stood and walked across the creaky old floor to a cabinet. He then produced another bottle of wine from inside, and began to pour himself another glass, "Assuming I would want to form some sort of 'partnership' with you, again, how am I to know I could trust you? Matisyn, you are a liar; you always have been. I should know. Drink?" He paused for a second, holding out the bottle, "For all I know, you could be the traitor."

Matisyn stayed calm, yet it was obvious he was annoyed.

"You know I would never betray the king. Though, I know I'm not the most trustworthy, when I make a commitment, I stick to it." Matisyn half-scolded through his teeth, while snatching the bottle away. He rolled his eyes, "I should have known you'd have another bottle stashed away."

Daryis let out a small laugh. He had had his fun with his brother. Annoying Matisyn was one thing he never failed at.

Daryis sighed, "Fine. What's the plan, Mati?"

Matisyn had not even thought of where to begin. Whoever was responsible for this would pay for it in blood. But finding the culprit would be no easy task.

"For the time being, we should probably do our best to avoid the public eye. There'd be no sense in causing an uprising. Should we catch whoever is responsible, bringing him or her to public justice would do little for our reputation. Taking care of it ourselves would only make us murderers and suspects."

"Ruin all the fun, why don't you." Daryis said. "So that leaves us sitting ducks."

"No. It means we have to leave the city. Get your things together." Matisyn made for the door.

"Tonight?"

"Why not? The evening is young."

"You can't be serious. This room is paid for."

"As is, I'm sure we'll have the royal guard on our tails by morning. Or worse. We have to leave tonight."

"Where are we going to go?"

"To seek audience with an old friend."

"Oh dear, this sounds promising." Daryis took a long swig off of the bottle before grabbing his coat. "Let's go."

Just as Matisyn had stated, the night was young, and a minimal amount of stars had just began to shine in the nearly-darkened sky. It was apparent that it was going to be a dark night, for the moon was nothing but a small sliver in the sky and there was only a small amount of stars in the sky.

This could work to their advantage. The mortals would have a difficult time tracking them in the night. Daryis and Matisyn would have no such problems, being as they could see perfectly well in the dark. The mortals would have to use something to light their paths, making them easier to spot if they did come after them.

Daryis smiled. That was one reason they were chosen to guard the Royal Family in the first place. Their immortality and many talents that mortals did not posses. He had been alive and protected almost as many members of the Royal Family as the history books could tell stories of. He should have been an old man centuries ago; he should have already felt his bones become brittle, he should have seen his hair graying, and he should have already felt death come upon him long, long ago, but no. He still looked and felt, physically, at least, as though he were still in his early twenties. Mentally, though, he didn't necessarily feel old, but he held centuries worth of knowledge in his mind.


He felt old at times, but then again, he was Daryis. He had always had a child-like personality. He figured the child in him would always come to play, no matter how old he grew to be. Matisyn, though, he had always been so cold. Even as children, he remembered Matisyn as cranky, for the most part, and very anti-social.

Ah, he had let his wine get to him. He thought too much about the past when he drank. He thought of the past a lot.


"And where are we going, exactly?" Daryis asked after a long period of silence.

"I told you, to an old friend's." Matisyn calmly stated.

"And who, exactly, do you speak of?"

"If you have to ask, Daryis, I really doubt you deserve to know."

Daryis walked quietly for several minutes until they reached the inn's stables.

"Pick one." Matisyn ordered, as he pointed to the horses.

Daryis did as he was told. Both men picked fine horses. They would surely last the journey...wherever it was to.


"Where are we headed," Daryis began, "can you at least tell me that?"

Matisyn looked over at his brother for a short moment. "South." He stated in his usual cold tone.

And that's when it hit him. Daryis knew exactly who they were going to see...

Meanwhile, somewhere in the city of Galesburg

"Good evening, my lord. What do I owe this late night visit?"

"I apologize, Sister. I know the hour is late. I would have waited 'til morning, had I seen it possible."

"What is it then?"

"I have a favor to ask of you, Sister. You see, in turn of the recent events, I've been called back to my duties as captain of the Storm Brigade."

The woman made the symbol of protection across her chest. "It's such a tragedy, my lord. I'll do all I can to support your cause."

The man sighed. "My girls. They are motherless and I have nowhere else to take them to ensure their safety, especially now. I can barely trust my own shadow."

"I understand, my lord. And how old are they?"

"Nine and six. They're with their nursemaid now, waiting for our room at the inn. Unfortunatly, I must be out by the morning. I'm sorry about the short notice."

"None of us expected this, my lord, least of all you, I assume. Perhaps you can have it arranged that they are brought here in the morning. I can enroll them as students at our academy."

"Thank you, Sister. I appreciate this beyond words." The man reached in his coat and pulled out a slip of paper. "This is the key to my bank account. My girls are to suffer no expense."

"I'll see to it personally that they only recieve the finest."

"Thank you, again."

"It is an honor."


The man left the academy and returned to the inn, where Sarah, the nursemaid, waited with both girls asleep on her lap.

He approached the counter. "I assume our room is ready by now?" He was impatient to rest.

"You're lucky," the woman said. "We had no vacancies tonight, but one of our guests seems to have checked out early."

Somewhere across the plains and the forest...

Morning had come faster than Daryis had expected. They had not slept a wink, and they were quickly approaching their destination.

"Are you sure you want to pull him into this, Matisyn?" Daryis asked in a worried tone.

"Yes. Who else would you suggest?"

"Maybe someone who would actually care about the situation, maybe?"

"Daryis," Matisyn began, "He's really the only one who can help us in anyway. Who else do you suggest to help us? The mortals? Daryis, think. I know it's hard for you, but think. He's our only chance."

"Fine." Daryis answered shortly, "But don't think he's going to take kindly to us."

"I don't expect him to take kindly to anyone, Daryis."


The two brothers rode on for hours. The sun was close to setting when they finally saw their destination. It was tall, and dark. It was well taken care of, but not inviting. Most people wouldn't dare step foot in this sinister abode, but then again, most people would never seek audience with Sid.


As they rode closer Daryis felt a shiver run down his back. He remembered being here as a child. The things he had seen would make any normal person turn in the other direction.

They tied their horses at the front gate and began to walk up to the door. Matisyn was about to knock when the door opened slightly to reveal a pair of unfriendly ice-blue eyes glaring out at them.

"What do you want?" a raspy voice demanded from behind the door.

Matisyn, as always, took the reigns in the situation.

"We need to see Sid. Be a good boy and get him for us, will you?"

The eyes seemed to glare even more at him, if that was even possible, and with almost a growl, the door opened to reveal a young man who looked almost as cruel as his eyes. He looked the men over and was off.

"Wait here." He ordered roughly.

Daryis gave his brother a concerned look, but Matisyn shrugged it off.



They waiting as patiently as they could. Matisyn was beginning to grow impatient when the young man walked in.

"He'll see you. Make it quick." He snarled as he pointed the direction for them to follow.

With that the young man began up the stairs.



Daryis and Matisyn made their way through the hall to a dim, but beautifully decorated room. Obviously Sid hadn't decorated it. As they looked around the room they quickly realized they were not alone. Silhouetted in the light of the fireplace was a man. Short in height, but fierce. The man could send shivers down the spine of the bravest of men.

"Ah, Matisyn, Daryis. What do I owe this..." he stopped for a mere second, "pleasure?"

"We need your assistance." Matisyn said calmly.

"Excuse me?" Sid asked in a low rasp.

Daryis decided to intervene.

"What he means, is would you mind assisting us with a small matter of ours?"

"And why should I help you two?" He almost growled.

"Why shouldn't you?" Matisyn argued in a less-than-calm voice.

"You are traitors," he glared at them both, "You left to serve a king who didn't care about your pitiful little lives."

Daryis couldn't handle it anymore, "And you did?"

Sid looked at Daryis in surprise, "Grown some nerve, have you Daryis? If you were anyone else you would be dead for that right there. Both of you." His voice was a low-toned rasp, you would imagine the devil to have such a voice. He stared out at them through his stringy black hair with his cold sapphire eyes, "You two are lucky. Lucky little leeches."

"And why's that?" Daryis asked in an almost sulking tone.

"If it wasn't for Charlotte, you would be dead."

"Leave our mother out of this." Matisyn coldly demanded.

"Oh? Do we want to play this game, little Matisyn? If we leave my late sister out of this, you mean nothing to me. It's only because you're blood you two are alive."

He left an emphasis on the word "late" that made Daryis cringe. He loved to torture people, physically and mentally, and he knew bringing their dead mother into the conversation would stab like daggers.

Matisyn was angry, but he stood still, saying nothing.

Sid began again, "You little urchins left your blood to serve that pathetic excuse for a king, and look at the predicament you're in now. Shame, shame."

He was mocking them.

Daryis couldn't handle a second more of it.

"Are you going to help us, or not, Uncle?"

Sid looked at him for a short second.

"No."

"Fine," Daryis angrily said, "We didn't need your help, anyways, not much you could really do, in all honesty. Come on, Mati, let's go!"

They heard a small snicker come from Sid.

"Wait." Sid demanded.

"What?" Matisyn almost shouted.

"What is it you two need?"

Matisyn raised an eyebrow. "And suddenly you care?"

"Or course not," Sid said, half-amused, and half iritated. "I have no interest in the affairs of mortals, and much less in those who pretend to be mortals. But please, won't you humor me. It's been so long since I've had entertainment."

"As if the murder of the royal family didn't give you a kick," Matisyn commented.

Daryis rolled his eyes and paced. "Tell me that you had nothing to do with this, Sid. If you did, this will become increasingly awkward."

"Your king," he spat the word, "presses very little concern to me, alive or dead."

Daryis sighed in relief. "Oh good, because if you did, we'd have to kill you as part of the whole vengence scheme."

Sid laughed, a horrible sound. He need not state that though his powers were bound, that did not make him easy to exterminate by any means. Otherwise, he would have been done away with long before.

"I never thought that you had a direct part in this," Matisyn admitted, "But perhaps you know things that we don't."

"For what exchange?"

What did they have to offer him.

Daryis exxagerated his puzzlement. "Oh, I don't know..." He threw up his hands with a victorious smile. "Your daughter, perhaps? Now she seems a worthy bounty, if I do say so myself."

Matisyn frowned. He had not been prepared to go on a damsel hunt.

But Sid noticably changed his stature and was silent for a moment.

Matisyn smirked, realizing this wasn't such a faulty plan after all. Sid would accept, even without words.

"First, the information, if you'd please."

While Sid was not one for compromising, neither were the twins.

Sid shrugged, indifferent. "If you must know, the royal line is not yet diminished. Your precious Archadia does have a bastard king."

Daryis' brows shot up in surprise. "What?"

"You heard me." Sid snapped back, "There's a little illegitimate king on the loose."

Matisyn looked at his uncle, "Are you lying?"

"And why exactly would I do that, Matisyn?"

Sid had a point. If his daughter was in the bargain, there was no way he was going to lie to them. Matisyn let Sid go on.

"He's not anywhere near here, of course. That would be far too easy, now wouldn't it, little nephew?"

Daryis sighed, "Just get on with it already, will you!?"